Art Licensing is super excited to announce that our artist, Joanne Paynter, is a featured member of The Surface Pattern Design Guild!Joanne’s Style is fun, graphic and playful- perfect for many product categories.

In Joanne’s interview with the Surface Pattern Design Guild she says she explains her style. She says, “I tend to tie in a bit of retro/vintage vibe especially in my geometrics and conversational patterns. Florals, geometrics and conversational prints are my absolute favorites. I love adding a sense of texture and mixing different patterns within each individual print.”

Although she has many patterns, Joanne also has some single images that could be used for various products (or easily turned into a pattern). If you are interested in seeing more of Joanne’s fun and colorful work, take a look at her portfolio!

International artist, Steve Henderson, puts the oil painting sequences of his Christmas work, "These Gifts Are Better Than Toys," to the music of "Carol of the Bells" performed by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, featuring Metallica. Make sure to pay close attention to the details on the nativity figurines near the end! Take a look at this amazing video.

When people are purchasing items in the marketplace, they are looking at the finished goods. They will admire the art on the product, but never stop to think about where the art came from. Licensing art is such a fascinating industry because we ALWAYS think about where the art came from. It is our job to help the artists make images that will work for each manufacturer and eventually become a finished good!

We thought you might be interested in seeing how one of our painters, Karen Middleton, will transform her idea into a finished good!

Step 1: The artist comes up with an idea for a new piece.

Step 2: Rough Sketch.

You can see that Karen has sent a rough sketch of "firemen pets" (dogs and cats) to show the general idea of what she would like to paint. The agents provided her with feedback of ways to make the image more marketable.

Step 3: Revised Rough Sketch

You can see that Karen made the requested revisions. Then the agent gave the “thumbs up” to begin her color sketch.

Step 4: Review Color Sketch

The ALI team suggested a few more "tweaks" and then she will be "OK" to begin painting this image.

Stay tuned to see the final product!

If you are one of our artists and would like assistance with your creative process, contact the art director, Zoe Anderson. If you are not signed with us, but would like a portfolio review, click here to learn more!